Method of manufacturing metal sheets or strips



June 3,l 1'930. F. wlLLE METHOD 0F MANFACTURING METAL SHEETS OR STRIPSl Filed Jan. 5, 1927 mm@ NNW/ l Nw um me Patented" June 3, 1930 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FREDRIK W'ILLE) 0F WILMETTE, it'LLiNoIs, AssiGNon ro H. A. 'BnASsERTa COMPA,

'or oHICAGdVILLiNois, A oonronarron or ILLINOIS METHOD or MANUFACTURING METAL Sniinrs on STRIPS Appiitatimriiiea vJaniiary 5,'1927.,se1-mino. 159,088.

f invention relates to the `inaiiufacture of Sheets or stripsmadeof steel or,` other metals by the rolling process. At the present .time sheets aremade on hand mills, the sheets Y n .This cycle of operations may ifdesired be re- 5. being rolled out in singles, doubles ormultiples according to thegauge and finishing required.I Strip steel is generally rolled in A"continuous mills which have recently been developed to roll greater widths than was 1Q originally possible.. The rolling of .Sheets by the continuous process is also .being developed, the main problem, as inthe'case of wide strips, being ,to overcome the loss of toofinuch f heat inthe rolling process, .particularly when '15*:7`rolling thethinner gauges; there is also the mechanicalk diiiiculty ofrolling a continuous wide Strip `or sheet in single thickness to" the required gauge andiinisln PIliave found it advisablein themanufaoture of the thinner y y tion with which yI gauges including "tin plate, notl vto attempt to inisli the slie'etaiid Strip in one continuous rolling of single thickness, but to rollfdown as 4,far as the heat ofthe metal will permit, and

then vdouble the ysheet ors'trip for finishing, vand haye developed a convenientv and eicient iiietliodof carrying out thisgoperation.

. y My. invflitioiWilllbjbgttel. understod by `reference tothe lfcoinpanyingdrawing in 'eo Which- Figiy l ,is a diagrammatic view illustrating the first lstep in my improved process which Vconsists `in bending the strip or sheet to be rolled into the form of a loopi i Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing in full lines the beginning of the 'second step, which consists ofiia'ttening theloop, as indicated by the dotted linesin said igure; and i n v Fig is sectional detail viewyof a modified form of the sheet vflattening means.

My improvedprocess maybe-practiced by the use of any suitable apparatus, and as my present application is not concerned with the mechanism employed, I have: shown only such and bl'ngfh Gnd POrtions ofitliesriliin parallelism, or approximately so. The loop `thus formed is then advanced through suitable flattening means to form a double strand.

been performed the material is re-heated and v,

finished by rolling. The foregoing ,describes `my `improved process as Iprefertolpractice it, but in its broadest aspect it contemplates accomplishing the doubling operation bythe use of two separate strips superimposedonei, i

upon'the other without the formation ofthe loop referred to, and it should be understood thatthis mode of operation comes within the scope of the broader claims. i

shall describe my improved process Vmore specilically, 3 indicates a continuous metal stiip, bywhich terni I mean to include sheets of greater or less Width, as

,well as narrow strips proper, which `in'prac- K, 'ticeinay be of `any. desired length, insome cases as much as two or three liundredfeet long. This strip is fedin the direction of the lower arrow in Fig. 1 over a roller table 1ndicated'by'rollers 4 of any suitable number. .I These rollers are spaced apar-tand are arrai'iged` to be positively driven, preferably by an electric motor, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in said figure; Said rollers lead to a set of pinch rollsy 5,6 which are also positively driven, the roll 5 turning in the oppo* site direction to the roll 6 which turns in the n same direction as the rollers 4. From. the pinch rolls 5, 6" the leading end of the strip passes between inner and outerY Udp-Shaped j guides, the inner guide 7 being unitary and the outer guide being composed oftwo coniplementary hinged members 8, `9 curvedto kcorrespond with the curvature ofthe periphery of the guide 7 and spaced apart therefrom Y f to provide a passage way 10 forthe strip. In the illustrated construction the guide member 8 is hinged at 11 and the guide. member 9'is hinged at 12, so that said guide members may be swung away from each other to the positions shown inFig. 2. Stationary plates 13,

Referrinor now to the drawings,inconnecico the beginning of the operation the latter pinch rolls are driven oppositely to the corresponding pinch rolls of the lower set, and the rollers 17 are driven oppositely to the rollers 4', so that the upper set of pinch rolls and `the upper roller table serve to advance the leading end of the sheet in the direction lindicated by the upper arrow in Fig. 1. vSeparate motors are preferably provided for driving the upper and lower sets of feeding devices so that the upper set can be more conveniently reversed.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that when a. sheet is fed into the lalpparatns its leading end will move toward t elooping guides over the rollers `4 of the lower table, and will be Vdefiected by the curved inner faces of the guide members 8,

9, so that it-will pass up over and around the innerv guide 7 and then be carried rearwardly between the pinch rolls 15, 16 over the rollers 17 ofthe upper table, thus forming a loop "intermedia-te the ends of the strip.

It is of course desirable that the loop be ,formed approximately midway of the length `of the strip, although great exactness is not re uired because the last few feet of each en of the strip are usually discarded because ofl imperfections of various kinds.

It is desirable that as soon as a sufiicient rlength of strip has been run through so that its upper and lowerends are equal, means be 'provided for automaticallystoppin(r the strip and then advancing it, looped end first,

between flattening rollers or equivalent devicesaan'd in the illust-rated construction I have indicated a series of switches by which such automatic stoppage maybe effected. In vthe illustration switches 18, 19 are provided in connection lwith the lower roller table, and switches'20, 21 in connection with the upper roller table. These switches may be lin the form of pivoted bars, the several pivots being lndlcated at 22. The switches associated with each roller table are spaced apart, and the bars thereof are arranged to hang endent in ,position to intercept and be moved yt-he l strlp as it passes along.

Normally such switches are in closed position, and they are opened in sequence by the passage of the strip by them. Said switches are connected with the operating motors in such manner that when the strip has been doubled and its leading end carried back far enough so that the loop portion 3F* is approximately midway between the two ends of the strip the several rollers will be stopped, thereby arresting the strip. The guide members 8, 9 are then opened to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the lower rollers 4 and the lower pinch rolls 5, 6 are started again in the same direction as before, but the upper'rollers' 17 and the pinoli rolls 15, 16 are started in a reverse direction, so that both the upper and lower end portions of the strip will be movedk in the direction indicated by the arrowsv in Fig. 2, thereby advancing the loop portion in the manner indicated by full lines in said figure.

The purpose of the latter movement of the looped strip is to carry its looped end into operative relation to flattening mechanism which in the illustrated construction is in the'form of two swingingframes 23, 24 pivoted at 25, 26, respectively, to swing toward and from each other. The frames 23, 24 lie at.I opposite sides of the path of the strip, theirl separated ends being toward the guide members 8, 9. Said frames carry sets of rollers 27, 28, respectively, driven preferably by separate motors, in a direction to advance the doubled strip. When the strip is first advanced from the looping devices the frames 23, 24 are spread apart to receive the loop end of. the strip, and are then closed against each other like arpair of scissors, as shown"` by the dotted lines in Fig.'2. In thus closing they grab the strip, compress the doubled loop into a flat strip, and conve it forward through pinch rolls 30, 31 suitab y supported at opposite sides of the path of the strip andg driven in any suitable way. These pinch rolls may feed the doubled strip directly into additional stands of rolls for further reduction or finishing, or may convey it directly into a heating or annealing furnace,

or to a shear for cutting into lengths for shipment, or for rolling into sheets or tin plate. The doublingy opera-tion may be repeated when rolling lighter gauges, as per usual practice, and in the drawings I have shown' rollers 4a that may form part of a roller table adapted to conduct the strip for such further treatment as it may be desired to give it. l i

While I have shown one way of accomplishing the doubling, it can be performed in Various other ways; for instance,if a short strip is used, the stops in the looping devices can be adjusted mechanically to stop the strip at an exact distance, without the overtravel incident to electrical control. Also, in place of the pivoted Set of rollers for iattenin g the loop, two parallel elements with or without rollers, such as a curved box, or two flats 28a (Fig. 3), straight or curved, can be used for flattening the loop, the pinch rollers performing the duty of pushing and pulling the strip through.

It is also possible to move the strip continuously by opening the guides. automaticali ly as soon as the strip has traveled a certain part of the total distance on the return loop, so that the strip as a whole will move forward through the doubling guide while the return loop is still being formed. In this Way a given length of strip may be run through continuously. If ,it is desirable to roll more than one length of strip continuously, the ends of several strips can be welded or otherwise fastened together.

Furthermore, as has been suggested, my improved method generically considered contemplatesfeeding two separate strips simultaneously out of a double supperimposed strip mill onto roller tables such as those illustrated, the lstrips going through a doubling guide, which in that case will consist of a straight instead of a curved box, and in between flattening rollers which would then remain in closed position all the time.

After doubling, in case light gauges be desired, it may be found desirable to reheat and further roll, and redouble, forming four thicknesses, or in the case of tin plate, to redouble again, making eight thicknesses, which would take three doubling operations Vin succession, the fours or eights being finished in the usual finishing rollers. the method described is peculiarly applicable to the manufacture of tin plates from strip, but it may be used for any other purpose for which it is adapted.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of doubling metal strips, consisting in moving the strip in one direction a predetermined distance, moving a portion of the strip in the opposite direction to that of its initial movement, thus forming the strip into a loop, and then advancing the loop between flattening means and in the direction in which the strip was first moved.

2. The method of doubling metal strips, consisting in moving the strip in one direction a predetermined distance, reversing the direction of travel of the leading end of the strip thus forming the strip into a loop, and then feeding the loop between `flattening means and in the direction in which the strip was iirst moved.

3. The method of doubling metal strips, consisting in moving the strip in one direction a predetermined distance, reversing the direction of travel of the leading end of the strip thus forming the strip into a loop, and then feeding the loop between flattening means by the action of the loop forming means and in the direction in which the strip was first moved` il. The method of doubling metal strips, consisting in moving the strip in one direction a predetermined distance,preversing the direction of travel of the leading end of the strip thus forming the strip into a loop comprising an upper run and a lower run, ejecting the loop by reversing the direction of travel of the upper run of the strip with the direction of travel of the lower run remaining unchanged, land then passing the loop as it is ejected trough flattening means.

5. The method of doubling metal strips, consisting in moving the strip in one direc-` tion a predetermined distance, reversingthe direction of travel of the leading end of the strip thus forming the strip into a loop comprising an upper run and a klower run, ejecting the loop by reversing the direction of travel of the upper run of the strip with the direction of travel of the lower run remaining continuous and unchanged, and then passing the strip as it is ejected through flattening means.

FREDRIK WILLE. 

